Action AlertContact your US Senator or Representative NOW and ask them to co-sponsor and vote in support of HR 6233 and S 3113.

What to do We need all of you, in every state across the country, to contact your US Senators and Representatives asking them to co-sponsor and support HR 6233 and S. 3113.

Background

On June 11, 2008, members of the North Carolina US congressional delegation introduced HR 6233 & s 3113 to return management of Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreational Area back to the National Park Service by setting aside the recently enacted consent decree that has virtually eliminated pedestrian and off-highway vehicle access at Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreational Area. The bill will reinstate the Interim Management Plan for Species Management adopted through the NEPA process and public involvement by the National Park Service and the US Fish and Wildlife Service and set aside the consent decree. The consent decree was a result of law suit settlement with Defenders of Wildlife and The National Audubon Society represented by Southern Environmental Law Center.

How to be the most effective1) Visit – visiting your elected officials is the most persuasive method of convincing them to support HR 6233 and s. 31132) Fax - faxed letters indicating who you are, where you live, why you care, and why they should care are more persuasive than other methods of sending a letter.3) Call – a personal call is very effective and more effective than e-mailing4) E-mail – e-mailing a letter is less effective than visiting, faxing or e-mailing a letter, but will work if that is the method that enables you to do your part.5) Mail – using the U.S. Postal Service takes up to 30 days for delivery so it is the least effective choice in contacting your elected officials.

Talking pointsThese talking points are derived in part from information at the Free Island Press, July 1, 2008, “The Case For Passing Legislation That Returns Management of the Seashore to the Park Service”. www.freeislandpress.org. And from information on the University of North Carolina website, www.learnnc.org

« Ask them specifically to co-sponsor the bills « Ask them specifically to support passage of the bills« Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreational Area was established first and foremost as a national seashore recreational area under its enabling legislation« The 2007 nesting season, prior to implementation of either the Interim Management Plan or the consent decree, was the most successful piping plover breeding season in over 20 years« Under the consent decree, a single plover chick is given enough beach area to cover the decks of three U.S. Navy super aircraft carriers, the largest warships on earth« In most American communities, a convicted child molester can live closer to a public school than a fisherman and his family can get to a plover« The Atlantic piping plover population is fast approaching 2,000 nesting pairs -- a figure that makes them eligible for de-listing as threatened« American oystercatcher numbers were better last year under the interim strategy than they are this year under the consent decree, proving the consent decree doesn’t work« The Outer Banks of North Carolina attract 5 million tourists each year to the area’s many beaches« The park is largely inaccessible under the consent decree during the spring, summer, and fall, when the majority of Americans who visit the park take their vacations« In 2003, tourists spent $600 million dollars in the Outer Banks. The consent decree is causing a tremendous loss of this tourism revenue resulting in an extremely damaging economic impact state-wide in North Carolina« Before implementation of the consent decree Judge Boyle declared his intention to provide the environmental groups exactly what they sought without hearing any evidence from either point of view and precluded the intervening parties, Dare and Hyde counties and the Cape Hatteras Access Preservation Alliance, from entering any evidence at all in open court. This occurred within the first few minutes of a February, 2008 scheduling conference in Judge Boyle’s court.

OutdoorWire, 4x4Wire, JeepWire, TrailTalk, MUIRNet-News, and 4x4Voice are all trademarks and publications of OutdoorWire, Inc. and MUIRNet Consulting. Copyright (c) 1999-2020 OutdoorWire, Inc and MUIRNet Consulting - All Rights Reserved, no part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without express written permission. You may link freely to this site, but no further use is allowed without the express written permission of the owner of this material. All corporate trademarks are the property of their respective owners.